


in dreams i dance with you

by necking



Category: Power Rangers (2017)
Genre: Angst, F/F, also kind of fluffy in a way???, idk u gotta read it to understand, literally just angst im sorry, trini is just like constantly crying
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-27
Updated: 2017-10-27
Packaged: 2019-01-25 01:25:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,876
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12519808
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/necking/pseuds/necking
Summary: Trini dealing with the aftermath of Kim's death.





	in dreams i dance with you

**Author's Note:**

> titled from 'in dreams i dance with you' by of montreal
> 
> tbh i had this idea when ppl in the trimberly dwarves chat were talkin about how ppl always kill trini n never kim a couple months ago so i wrote this outta spite lol
> 
> italicised stuff are flashbacks
> 
> also kind of inspired by this prompt: Imagine Person A always holds Person B’s hand till Person B falls asleep. One day Person B gets shot and is bleeding pretty bad. When Person A hurries to rescue them, Person B says: “Hold my hand, I am falling asleep.”
> 
> as usual i have neglected to reread this so just lmk if somethin is up w the fic

_“Kim!” Trini screamed, sounding almost inhuman from how suddenly the sound was ripped from her throat when she’d seen the sudden flash of pink drop from the sky._

_She’d been so lost in the celebration and cheering with the boys from the defeat of Lord Zedd, she hadn’t noticed Kim’s Zord going haywire in the sky._

_The boys were still a fair distance away, so she rushed over in her own Zord, hopping out before it could properly stop._

_“Kim,” Trini repeated worriedly, now close enough to be within earshot of her girlfriend._

_“Trini,” Kim said, the name sounding guttural and wet from all the bleeding in her stomach, “can you hold my hand?”_

_The yellow ranger’s hands flew to the open wound in an attempt to stop the bleeding, even just for a little while, until more help came, “I can’t!” She shifted her hands more, but the bleeding didn’t let up._

_Kim struggled with her next words, swallowing noisily so she could get a quick sentence out, “please,” another swallow, “just hold it. I’ll be okay.”_

_“But you’ll bleed out,” the shorter girl said frantically, feeling helpless. Kim had already lost a lot of blood, but she didn’t want to think about what_ that _meant. They’d almost died before, they could survive_ this _, right?_

_A heavy breath, and then another loud gulp. “But I can’t fall asleep unless you’re holding my hand.”_

_Her eyes widened, the panic in her chest beating to an even more erratic rhythm, “no, Kim-!” she said, trying to remember to breathe, “Kim, don’t- we just_ won _! Don’t fall asleep.”_

_She didn’t respond, instead choosing to smile up at Trini, her eyes half closed._

_“Kim!” Trini yelled, much more urgently, “don’t do this to me! Rangers can’t die, remember?”_

_Still smiling, Kim wordlessly moved her hand onto Trini’s so that her hands were intertwined with the shorter girl’s, like their hands were spooning. “Just a quick nap,” she muttered._

_“No,” Trini whispered, when her girlfriend’s eyes had fluttered shut, “no!” She repeated, this time louder. “Kim, open your eyes! Wake up!”_

_By then, Jason and the others had finally reached them. How long they’d been standing there, she didn’t know._

_“Please,” she begged weakly, hoping Kim would just open her eyes and start laughing, like it was all some joke. “I love you.”_

-

“Trini?”

The familiar voice snapped her back into reality, a sudden dull pang went off in her chest when she realized it wasn’t the voice she’d hoped for.

“You okay?” He prodded, when he noticed she hadn’t replied.

“... Yeah,” Trini finally replied, her voice cracking. “What’s up, Jace?”

The leader of their team scratched the back of his neck guiltily, suddenly sure his suspicions of diving back into training too soon were true. “I just, um- it’s you and Zack up,” he continued, and then added on quickly, “but if you’re not up to it, we can wait until next time-”

“No, no, I’m ready, I can do this,” she said, standing up suddenly and dusting the knees of her pants off like she hadn’t just been on the verge of tears.

He frowned at her, concerned. “You sure? Zordon said there are no serious enemies approaching- we have plenty of time to train.”

“No,” she repeated, much more firmly, “I can do this.”

Sensing that she wasn’t going to falter, he raised his arms up in surrender, instead preparing himself for any sudden outburst. “Okay,” he conceded.  

The other two rangers stared uncomfortably at the exchange, unsure of how to deal with the _aftermath._ It’d only been a week since the funeral, everything still so fragile and fresh to know how to properly handle it all.

Of course, they were all grieving-- they were all basically Kim’s family, but it only made sense for Trini to take it the hardest, having had a different, more _intimate_ connection with Kim.

“Zack? You ready?” Jason asked, looking away from the yellow ranger to acknowledge the other boy.

He coughed, stepping forward into the ring. Raising his hands up hesitantly into position, he relaxed into a fighting stance. “Ready.”

The room was tense, the elephant in the room not having yet been addressed. Zack and Trini stared at each other in the ring, Trini, a small glare set on her face, ready to go, while Zack sported an uneasy grimace, uncertain if he should go through with the sparring match.

Alpha had barely finished signaling the _start_ signal, when Trini launched herself forward, hitting Zack square in the jaw before he had time to block it.

“Ow,” he whined, stepping back, his guards finally being raised to their full extent, instead of his previous half-hearted stance.

Trini smirked then, a small trace of her old self back, “s’what you get for thinking you could go easy on me.”

Zack grinned back at her, dodging a second punch directed at his jaw. “Shit, crazy girl, never again.”

He eased into a more basic routine with her, throwing quick jabs and punches to her gut, while she aimed for his groin. _Typical_ , he dimly thought, letting himself grow more used to the situation.

-

_“You’re a cheerleader and you don’t know how to dance?”_

_“_ Ex _-cheerleader, and_ excuse _you, I do know how... just not that kind.”_

_They were at an all time emotional high-- they’d just defeated Lokar, and the alcohol was still racing through their veins. The boys had left Kim’s house some time ago, so it was just the two of them now, Trini choosing to stay behind to help the taller girl clean up._

_“You are going to have to show me_ your _kind of dance later,” Trini said, trying not to think about what kind of dances ex-cheerleaders got up to, “but for now, you’re gonna learn how to do my kind.”_

_Kim scoffed, “and how do I know you’re even a credible teacher?” She asked, not even bothering to refuse after having thought about having Trini in close proximity._

_“Because it’s literally_ just _swaying, and I had to learn how for my quinces,” she chuckled, amazed that Kim, who was_ supposed _to be_ graceful, _didn’t know how to do a basic slow dance._

 _Her head snapped up after the mention of_ quinces, _the thought of fifteen-year-old Trini in a pink fluffy dress too funny to completely disregard. “Quinces?” Kim questioned, not able to wipe the shit-eating grin on her face, “did you wear a princess dress? You got pics?”_

 _Trini rolled her eyes playfully at Kim’s antics. She should’ve known there would’ve been questioning on that front. “Shut up,_ princess, _” she teased back, snaking her arms around Kim’s neck, “you’re going to learn how to dance right now._

_“You sure?” Kim continued to joke, in an attempt to hide the blush on her ears, “no cute pink frilly dress pics?”_

_“They’re burned. Now c’mon, I’ll show you.”_

_Kim gulped, feeling uncharacteristically nervous, despite the slight buzz she was still feeling from the alcohol. “Where do I put my hands?”_

_“Not there,” Trini laughed, when Kim had readily placed her hands on the yellow ranger’s ass._

_She repositioned Kim’s hands to the correct position on her waist, grinning wide when she noticed Kim’s face was now red, “that’s better,” she said, leading Kim into a slow two step back and forth, with mild swaying, “maybe if we continue with these lessons I’ll teach you the kind of dances where you can actually grab my ass.”_

_Kim nodded her agreement quickly at that, “yeah, alright, I’m into it, sounds good.”_

_This time, the shorter ranger blushed, laughing to explain the slight red tinge on her face._

_When they gained a steady rhythm, Kim spoke up again, now confident she could multi-task the simple dance with talking, “it’s a more vanilla form of dancing than I’m used to, but I’ll admit, this is pretty nice.”_

_“Right? Perfect for like, talking, and shit,” Trini agreed, her head now nestled in the crook of Kim’s neck._

_Kim nodded her head yes, but realizing that the shorter girl couldn’t see it, she voiced her agreement, “yeah, is this a plan you had?” she murmured, Trini feeling the vibrations on her cheek, “did you wanna talk to me about something?”_

_For a moment, they were just dancing in silence, Trini trying to pick her next words carefully._

_“Honestly? Yeah,” she said finally, breaking the silence, “today, when we almost fucking_ died, _I was so… Sad when my life flashed before my eyes, because I hadn’t done everything I wanted to do.”_

_“Like what?”_

_“I don’t know,” Trini laughed nervously, swallowing hard to get the next words out, “like tell you how hot you are.”_

_Kim smiled then, her lips pressed against Trini’s head, “that’s okay, I already know that.”_

_“Besides the point,” Trini said, clearing her throat so she could continue in a clearer voice, “You’re also… Cute, and insufferable-- I can’t help but be kind of into it.”_

_“Okay, I get cute a lot less, but I’ll take the compliment.”_

_“Kim, shut up, I’m trying to talk,” she laughed, her nerves calming themselves more with Kim’s easy-going humour to punctuate every sentence._

_“Okay, okay, my bad, go on.”_

_She closed her eyes tightly, trying to muster up the courage to finish her thoughts. She’d already come this far, and it was pretty obvious where the conversation was headed here, so what was the use now in chickening out?_

_“I’m just saying, I didn’t wanna die without telling you I might have feelings for you.”_

_There was another pause then, Kim pulling back to properly read Trini’s face, trying to figure out if she was being serious._

_Trini stared back in defiance, not wanting to look weak, even though she felt it. She prepared herself for the pink ranger’s answer with her head held high. She was pretty sure it was a two way street-- they’d been flirting for weeks, but there was always the chance that she could’ve been reading everything wrong._

_“_ Might _?” Kim questioned, a trace of humour in her voice, “where’s the certainty? Because I_ know _I have feelings for you, and the_ good _kind.”_

_She let out a sigh of relief then, “okay,” she chuckled, the weight of her world now completely off her shoulders, “I definitely have the good kind for you too.”_

_“So why are we still talking then?”_

_Trini stared back at Kim then, or the girl who also seemed to have more-than-friendly feelings for her too, in confusion. “What?”_

_Kim shrugged, “we know where we both stand, so I’m just gonna go for it.”_

_“What?”_

_And then they were kissing for the first time. It was short, a little sloppy from the built up tension and eagerness, but it wasn’t anything less than perfect._

_“Nice,” Kim grinned, and Trini laughed at her less-than-impressive word choice._

_“Maybe one more go,” she answered back, leading them to the start of their series of ‘nice’ kisses._

_-_

She kicked at his legs, hoping to throw Zack off guard, but he jumped over the assault, smiling smugly at her, only to meet an intense glare etched onto her face.

“Trini-?” He started, but was interrupted when she _snarled,_ growing more frustrated when she couldn’t land any more hits-- it wasn’t that he was choosing to only dodge and not fight back, but that her movements were growing more and more impulsive, and less calculated. Despite being the most reckless fighter on the team, it was obvious she was throwing hits at random.

The black ranger frowned when he narrowly dodged a kick to his neck, the movement too rough to be considered safe for training.

Then, she aimed an unguarded punch at his chest, and, out of sheer muscle memory, Zack dodged the punch, and rushed behind her, throwing her down roughly-- only, because of the sudden momentum, she’d been hit harder than normal.

“Jesus!” Jason yelled, sounding far away.

She didn’t really register much in the yelling, gathering that Jason was scolding Zack while Zack screamed back his apologies, and Billy loudly yelled out information he thought was helpful.

The memory in her head had felt so vivid, so real, and mindlessly brushed her fingertips over her lips as if Kim had just kissed her.  Usually, it was times like these, when the boys were being _idiots_ and _loud_ that Kim and her would share a look, and then sneak off to make out, or just spend some time together. She felt helpless, not being able to go to the person she wanted to the most.

Suddenly, another shot of frustration ran through her system, remembering how she’d _known_ there was always the risk of dying, but still not having told Kim everything she’d wanted to, like how she didn’t know how she could survive without her.

“Trini?” Zack said, a comforting hand now on her shoulder. When they’d stopped yelling, she wasn’t sure, but she hated the way the three of them were now crouched around her, looking concerned, like she might break at any second.

“Fuck off,” she muttered, roughly shrugging Zack’s hand off her shoulder.

She stood up then, moving back to her starting place in the middle of the ring.

“Um,” Jason started, once he’d realized she meant to go back into sparring, “maybe we should hold off training another time.”

Trini shook her head no then, waiting for one of them to join her in the ring. She didn’t care who, she just knew they couldn’t stop training. “We can’t. If there’s another attack, we won’t be ready, and someone is gonna die like Kim did because we neglected training _again.”_

The boys visibly flinch at the mention of Kim, and she almost scoffs, until she realizes that she’s crying when she can’t see properly anymore.

“Trini, it’s no use thinking like that,” Billy said, surprising Zack and Jason when he spoke. He wasn’t usually very good at speaking about delicate topics.

“Yeah, c’mon, we aren’t going to get anywhere if you’re like this,” Jason tacked on, suddenly finding his voice again after Billy had spoken, “I promise we will do double the training next week, but for now, you need to cool down.”

She sighed and stood up into her normal stance then, turning to look at the red ranger. Her eyes shifted over to look at Zack’s scared and guilty face, and she suddenly felt tired. It was like the anger inside her died.

“Fine,” she conceded, figuring she must look a mess with the tears on her face not yet completely dry, “Whatever. See you guys later.”

They stared at her in pity as she left the cave, and she tried not to explode again, instead shutting her eyes tightly and accepting her exhaustion.

-

She’d had a hard time sleeping ever since Rita’s attack, but Kim had always been there to help her with that. With Kim gone, it was almost impossible to even close her eyes.

Trying to think of happy thoughts, her brain had suddenly brought back the memory of when Kim had climbed through her window for the first time, before their ranger connection had even formed.

Her eyes started to water again, thinking back to how she’d wasted time pushing Kim away because she’d been so used to being _alone_.

-

_She’d just woken up from a nightmare where Rita was back in her room, seemingly ready to kill her, when a flash of pink movement from her window caught her attention, urging her to hastily turn her back against the intruder._

_“Jesus, T, are you the one freaking out? Because I haven’t felt an emotion this deep yet with the others except from you- shit, are you okay?”_

_Trini nodded quickly then, not trusting her voice to come out clear. She turned around so Kim couldn’t see the tears on her face as the taller girl landed softly onto the carpeted floor._

_A few footsteps, and then a warm hand on her shoulder, “T?” Kim questioned, clearly not having seen the head nod._

_She coughed, trying to clear her throat so she sounded better than she felt, “yeah, I’m good.”_

Fuck, _she thought, realizing her voice had given her away from the obvious tremor in it._

_“You don’t sound okay.”_

_“I’m- fuck,” Trini cursed again, this time out loud, “I’m fine. Can you just leave?”_

_There was the sound of two footsteps-- one further away, and then one closer. Then a silence. Not even a sound of rustling to indicate that Kim had decided to follow her very clear instructions._

_“Kim? God, fuck off,” Trini angrily said, not caring anymore about her puffy face, as she turned around to fully face the other girl._

_Kim shifted on her feet again, looking visibly uncomfortable and shy as she spoke the next words. “I would, but I can’t sleep,” she said, not even looking terrified at the glare Trini had sent her way, “alone, at least.”_

_Trini nodded, her harsh defensiveness evaporating into nothingness. Where Kim had Tommy Oliver, a guy she’d trusted enough into her own bedroom, only to attempt to murder her in her sleep, Trini had Rita. It was understandable why she couldn’t sleep alone anymore._

_“I get it,” the yellow ranger said, moving over in her bed so that there was room for Kim. She raised the blankets up, inviting Kim to join her._

_She hesitated, unsure if the usually closed off and restrained girl was sure about allowing her to share a bed with her._

_When Trini only nodded her affirmation, Kim sighed in relief, her body visibly relaxing as she slid into the other side of the bed._

_There was still a sizeable distance between them, Kim not wanting to cross any boundaries by touching the other girl, only for Trini to shoot down those thoughts._

_“Kim?” Trini whispered in the dark, clearly still unable to sleep._

_“Yeah?”_

_“Can you-”_

_But Trini’s question was interrupted, when Kim flipped over to face her, closing the distance between their bodies to spoon the smaller girl. Then, as an afterthought, she snaked her hand over to Trini’s front, holding onto Trini’s hand._

_“Thanks.”_

_The pink ranger hummed in response, and only let herself fall asleep when she heard the steady, rhythmic breathing from Trini._

_-_

Trini stared blankly at her ceiling, the scene replaying over and over in her head. Moving her hand to wipe the tears away from her face, she was mildly surprised to see that it came out dry.

Shifting onto her side, she glanced quickly at the clock on her nightstand, the red numbers blinking, _3:01AM_. She hadn’t had a proper night of sleep in the last two weeks, and it was really starting to take a toll on her health.

“Wow, still can’t sleep, huh?” An all too familiar voice said, in the same teasing lilt she always spoke in when she was alive.

Trini sat up quickly, her eyes immediately landing on her window by her desk to watch someone climb into her window like it was routine. “Kim?”

But it wasn’t really Kim. She was pale, kind of translucent, but in the clothes she died in; her leather jacket with the pink strappy top, and black jeans.

“Um, yeah, who else?” Kim asked, giving her a smirk as she raised one brow at the shorter girl, her feet landing softly onto the floor.

Trini rubbed her eyes in bewilderment, convinced the lack of sleep was making her see things. “But… You’re dead.”

“No shit,” she chuckled, walking the same path she always did to her side of Trini’s bed.

“This… Can’t be real. I’m sleep deprived, aren’t I?”

Kim’s form only solidified more, going from translucent to almost fully opaque. “I don’t know, babe. Haven’t been here for the last couple weeks, remember? Which I am sorry for, by the way.”

“You’re… Not- Jesus,” Trini mumbled, unable to believe that this was really happening.

“Right. Not Jesus. Just Kim,” she joked, still only standing next to her assigned side, instead of joining her girlfriend/ex-girlfriend.

Trini shook her head then, still unable to process the situation, “I’m going- fuck,” she laughed, not in humour, but self pity, “I’m going fucking crazy.”

“Aw, babe, yeah, you’re crazy, but not because of this,” Kim cooed, and it seemed as though she was about to touch her, only to hide the movement by running her hands through her hair, “I’m real, trust me-- just touch me.”

Kim’s body flickered in and out of opacity, her quick changes in form almost dizzying Trini.

“No, this is ridiculous.”

The pink ranger rolled her eyes, slightly annoyed, “c’mon Trini, can you just touch me? Not even in a naughty way?”

“Why?” Trini asked, still completely bewildered, “wouldn’t my hand just go through you?”

“Yeah, but only if you don’t really believe I’m here.”

“... Why?” She repeated again, wanting answers.

“Oh my God, just do it.”

Trini almost asked ‘why’ again, but realizing it wasn’t going anywhere, just stared blanky at Kim.

Sighing in exasperation, Kim grabbed the pillow off her side, and threw it across the room.

“What the fuck,” Trini muttered, eyes wide, “how?”

“I’m Kimberly Hart, babe,” she said, looking smug as her form finally solidified to fully opacity, “I’m not dead to you unless I say I’m dead.”

Then Trini chuckled, shaking her head in disbelief. Suddenly, the laughing turned into crying, and Kim’s eyes widened.

“K-Kim,” she stuttered out, swiping tears out of her eyes as she reached over to touch her girlfriend. She was shocked to find that Kim felt _real_ and even _alive._

Kim finally moved to sit beside her on the bed, and Trini’s shock only increased when she felt the bed dip lower, “wow, relax,” Kim murmured, hugging Trini to her chest, “I know I’m hilarious, but this is a little bit much, isn’t it?”

“B-but you’re d-dead,” Trini sobbed, still laughing and crying.

“We already went through, this, sweetie.”

“But I saw you di-die,” she said, her voice muffled against Kim’s chest, “I literally begged for you to not die.”

“You know I love hearing you beg.”

Trini pulled away then, so that she could glare at her.

“I’m- uh,” Kim said, awkwardly scratching the back of her head, “too soon?”

The yellow ranger rolled her eyes playfully at Kim, going back to nestle her head into Kim’s chest, and laid them down into a horizontal position.

“I missed you so much.”

“I know.”

“I haven’t been able to sleep.”

Kim chuckled, “I know.”

“But you’re here now.”

“Yeah, so you should sleep now,” the taller girl said, now taking hold of Trini’s hand.

She wanted to stay awake, in case this ghost version of Kim wasn’t real, and she was just imagining her. But Kim’s hand felt _so real_ in her own, and so did the body radiating heat while holding her, and she couldn’t seem to fight her drooping eyes anymore.

“I’m not going anywhere,” Kim said, as if she could read Trini’s thoughts.

She wasn’t crazy. If she had a proper amount of sleep tonight, and still saw Kim tomorrow night, then she would go see a psychologist. But for now, she was going to take advantage of her hallucinations.

“Promise?”

“I promise.”

**Author's Note:**

> just wanted to write a ghost fic as a seasonal thing happy halloween yall xx
> 
> also sry 4 writin this lmaooo 
> 
> lmk if the angst worked out for u its still a genre im v hesitant about writin
> 
> follow me @ivebeenexposed.tumblr.com


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